1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a cover member attachment structure for reducing the number of parts through elimination of a welding step and so on.
2. Description of Background Arts
An example of cover members, which cover the respective sections of a vehicle, is a heat shielding panel to be attached to an exhaust pipe or a silencer, which communicates with an engine. Known examples of a heat shielding panel attachment structure include, for example, (1) xe2x80x9ca motorcycle exhaust pipe devicexe2x80x9d disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 2-26045, and (2) a structure for attaching a heat shielding panel to a bracket using a screw, the bracket being attached to an exhaust pipe.
The art (1) discloses, as shown in FIG. 5 of the publication, an exhaust pipe device, in which the external circumferential surface of a single pipe 11 is clamped by a first band 161, which is attached to a heat shielding panel 15 via a spacing panel 17, and a second band 162, which communicates with the first band 161. The respective ends of the first band 161 and the second band 162 are attached, using a bolt 22 and a nut 23, to a positioning projected piece 24, projecting from the external circumferential surface of the single pipe 11, whereby the heat shielding panel 15 is attached to the single pipe 11.
The above mentioned art (2) will be described referring to FIG. 8 which is a cross-sectional view explaining a conventional cover member attachment structure, showing a state in which a bracket 102, having an inverted C-shaped cross section and a nut 101 welded on the inner surface thereof, is welded on the external circumferential surface of the exhaust pipe 103. A screw 107 is inserted through an attachment hole 105, formed on a heat shielding panel 104, which serves as a cover member. A piercing hole 106 is formed on the bracket 102 and then screwed into the nut 101. The exhaust pipe 103 is attached to the heat shielding panel 104.
According to the art (1), as the first band 16, and the spacing panel 17, and the spacing panel 17 and the heat shielding panel 15 are respectively welded, the heat shielding panel 15 and the first band 16, may possibly be distorted due to the heat caused during the welding process. Therefore, careful welding is required for minimizing the distortion.
In addition, as a bolt 22 and a nut 23 are used for securing the first band 16, and the second band 162 to the single pipe 11, the number of parts is increased, resulting in a cost increase.
According to the art (2), as the nut 101 is welded so as to correspond to the piercing hole 106, and the bracket 102 is welded on a predetermined position on the exhaust pipe 103, positioning of the nut 101 and the bracket 102 is required and an increased number of welding steps must be applied. This makes it difficult to improve productivity.
In light of the above, the object of the present invention is to provide a cover member attachment structure for improving productivity through the elimination of a welding step and so on. In addition, an object of the present invention is to reduce the number of parts and thus suppress the increase in cost through the abolishment of the use of bolts and nuts.
In order to achieve the above object, in a cover member attachment structure for attaching a cover member to an object to be shielded for the purpose of improving appearance, suppressing heat propagation, preventing solid or liquid scattering, preventing invasion to or leakage from the inside, and so on, the cover member is attached to the object to be shielded using a spring member
A spring member is used in attaching a cover member to an object to be shielded, rather than through welding or using bolts and nuts.
As a result, distortion on the heat shielding panel, which would be caused when attaching a cover member through welding and so on, is not caused. In addition, a step of positioning a bracket, which would be required in welding a bracket to an object to be shielded, can be omitted. Further, as no bolt and nut is used, the number of parts can be reduced.
According to the present invention, the cover member is a member to be attached to a part of an intake and exhaust system, which communicates with an engine.
When attaching, for example, an air cleaner case cover or a heat shielding panel as a cover member to a part of an intake and exhaust system, a spring member is used.
As a result, for an air cleaner case cover, for example, vibration can be efficiently suppressed by means of elastic force of the spring member.
For a heat shielding panel, when a spring member is made detachable, should the spring member be worn out due to heat, the spring member can be easily exchanged.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.